This is why I get along better with the little girls and not the little boys.

Got a call from my daughter and I gotta go doctor a horse. It seems my 14 year old grandson got into the pasture with the horses while riding one of those particullary obnoxious sounding dirt bikes and ran em through a fence. I've been keeping up with the doctoring process performed by my youngest son (33) and his wife...the boy is the son of my oldest son (37). Sarah called this AM concerned about the hoof (coronet just above the hoof) which is pretty bloody (she says). Damn I hate motorcycles (not street types) and jet skiis...both bring out and inhance the stupidity in people.

I knew about the incident and when I talked to the errant grandson a couple of days ago, I explained that if I ever heard of it happening again I would buy a brand new sledge hammer and wear it out on his motorcycle...then of course his pop would want a fist fight with me and that would be fine as well...he seemed impressed.

Osborne Russell

07-07-2007, 09:03 AM

Being a boy is not a crime . . . it's just a crime waiting to be committed. Keep cool, Pops.

Ian McColgin

07-07-2007, 09:56 AM

I know some girls capeable of this sort of thoughtless disrespect but it does seem to run more with boys.

I don't know if threats of a violent end to the bike is really where it's at. It appears that at least one of your sons inherited your respect for horses and perhaps the other, father of the offending grandson, did not, or at least failed to pass it on to his son. Respect for property is removed from, but not wholly unrelated to respect for the animals we have chosen. Threatening demolition of the bike, a deliberate vengence in kind for the cruelty visited on the horses, is not really the way to break the pattern.

Were I your situation, I'd find out if the boy's father has any corrective in mind. If it's meaningful, good. If not, perhaps you can help him. If you can't, it may be that your other son should bar his nephew from any proximity with the horses, forever.

George Jung

07-07-2007, 11:34 AM

I'd agree - the 'problem' lies with this kids dad (?your son?), and what his values are. If he's not on the same page - oops! I've encountered that sort, and unfortunately, they're raising the next generation of folks who just don't respect others.

Leon m

07-07-2007, 07:47 PM

Sounds to me, the boy needs a better relationship (respect, understanding) with the horses. Nothing a couple of weeks/months of horse chores couldn't fix.

paladin

07-07-2007, 09:04 PM

I had a similar situation with one of my sons......after his mom and I were divorced, she went through a series of boyfriends and left the kids to their own devices......including getting a motor bike for the son, and he ran the pasture chasing cattle and horses.....his maternal granddad asked me what I thought....and it was similar......bike was padlocked....and Glenn spent all summer feeding and caring for the horses and cattle.....and no more bike riding in the pasture...